Easter Fun

The Saturday after Easter John's family came over for a belated Easter celebration. We were planning on getting together the weekend before Easter, but all the kids were sick so we pushed back a week.
We all pitched in and brought enough food to feed a few armies and enough eggs for a dozen kids to hunt. We just talked and caught up on everything first then Grammie and Aunt Lisa hid eggs in the hallway, dining room and the kids' room (we were going to do it outside until we had a bunch of rain the day before!). Then we turned the kids loose to gather the eggs. Lets just say we have a true competitor amongst us. Abby was all about getting the most eggs! Forget about everyone else, she had her sights on those eggs and even the size of her basket wasn't going to slow her down. Her basket finally go so full that every time she'd bend down to get another egg, everything would topple out of her basket. The girl was on a mission! Jake was curious to see what was in the eggs, so he only got a few then grabbed Grammie to open the goodies inside. Paige and Ethan were having fun too gathering eggs, but they'd leave their baskets behind occasionally then realize they had nothing to put the eggs in. The kids were really cute and everyone had fun.

Lily's Smile

Lily has been smiling for about two weeks now, but I haven't been able to catch it on camera. It blows me away that she's already smiling! This is something that usually happens around 6 or 8 weeks. Jake was right around 7 weeks and Abby around 10 (although our pedi gave them an extra month if they needed it since they were preemies).
While she really doesn't look a lot like either Jake or Abby (she has features from both of them), I think her smile is a lot like Abby's.
Too cute!!


Everyone enjoys a little floor time together.
Abby makes sure Lily has her bear at all times too. I guess she doesn't want Lily to grow up and be confused about which bear is hers. Best to start teaching her young!

Family Pictures

Last Saturday we had our family pictures taken. The photographer got some GREAT shots but we're struggling with which shots to order so we need your help! Take a look at the pictures following the instructions below and let us know which family shot you like best.

go to www.jillybeanphotography.com
click on "Client Viewing"
the password is - Thornell

The image numbers are in the lower left hand corner of each image. Leave a comment or shoot me an email with your favorite pics.

Jake is NOT superman

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Jake jumping off the kitchen table!
This past week, Jake climbed up on the kitchen table and started jumping on it. I quickly shouted no and went to go get him off the table. As I approached him, he turned and JUMPED off the table! Luckily his head hit the wall instead of our tile floors or the window sill. He had a pretty good goose-egg on his head, but it could have been a lot worse.
The fall hasn't curbed his jumping or climbing though. Now he just gets up on stuff, points to the ground and says "fall".
I keep trying to look to the future and figure out how his inquisitive, fearless, persistent personality will serve him in the future. Maybe he'll be a stunt guy, or maybe he'll figure out how to defy gravity (do we have a little Isaac Newton on our hands?). Who knows.

1 Step Forwad, 2 Steps Back

Ahhh - regression has hit us hard. Jake the hardest. Jake has started getting into things and doing things he hasn't done in a while since I've had Lily. We climb the couches, the TV, throw our plates and food, and we don't nap anymore. I've always heard regression in regards to potty training which is why I didn't even venture to potty train before Lily came, but I didn't even think about it in regards to other behaviors. Arg!
My mom heads back to her life on Tuesday next week :-( I'm thinking that maybe once she leaves and it's just the four of us at home during the week, things will slowly get back to normal. Maybe. He'll still have to adjust to Lily being around and getting attention from me, but hopefully he'll start listening a bit more and being less defiant.
I also have to figure out the best way to get out of the house with the three of them by myself so we aren't locked in doors all week (although with the weather warming up, we'll be in the backyard more for sure!). The twins still need their regular activities and outlets so hopefully we can get back into that soon. We used to do stuff every morning just about during the week!

Lily's Baptism

Last Sunday we had Lily baptized at our church in Frisco. We were up for the early service (which starts at 9:15) and actually made it on time! My parents, sister and clan, and John's mom all came down for the event. It's tradition at our church to have all family and friends participate in the baptism so everyone, including the kids, helped baptize Lily. By the time we were done, she was drenched! Jake was up first and knew exactly what to do. Abby made the cross on her own forehead, but that was okay. It was neat to have all the kids participate. After the service we came home for lunch and warmed up some of the food we had actually gotten from our church after Lily's birth. It was super easy and that meant I didn't have to get out to buy food for everyone. Even better!

Lily was the star of the day!

Before everyone left we tried to get a group shot, but that's turned out to be a tough task. We did manage to get one good shot, but it's on Brandon's camera so I'll have to get that from him.

PAMOM Spring Fling

This past weekend my mom's group had their annual Spring Fling. We missed it last year (it fell on the twins' birthday party) so I really wanted to get out to the fling this year. It's a great little place out in the country and not too far from us. There would be egg hunts, pony rides, dogs and real bunnies to look at, snacks, swings, ponds, even hay rides. It was sure to be a great time!

As you might imagine, I don't catch the weather often and so the last time I saw the weather it was supposed to be warm and about 87 degrees this day. But it had changed apparently since I last saw it. It was really breeze and chilly that morning. We show up in short sleeve shirts, carpi's, and no jackets. We all get out and realize just how cold it was. John quickly mentioned I wouldn't be getting any mother of the year awards as we were the only one's in short sleeve shirts, let alone carpi's. Everyone else had bundled their little ones up in jackets and sweaters. Hmmm.

Okay, we didn't actually make it to the hayride, but we did stop to check out the tractor on our way in.

We got there promptly at 10 and dropped off our eggs for the egg hunt. Then it was off to see the bunnies and dogs until it was time for our egg hunt. The kids had fun and really enjoyed the animals. So far they didn't seem to mind the cold.

Next we were up for the egg hunt. For Abby it was all about the hunt. After she filled her basket, she dumped all her eggs out and started again. Jake quickly became bored with his stuff and wanted more of a challenge. He kept trying to hop the fence to hunt in the 5 year old area. Me and Lily just chilled.

And they're off!

This is too easy! I need a challenge.

We kept trying to get our photo with the Easter bunny too, but Abby was terrified of him. She'd ask for him, but as soon as he'd get within 5 feet, she'd scream. So, we don't have any pictures with the Easter bunny this year, but we did get photos with a real bunny (in a cage :-).

After the egg hunt we set over to the ponies to ride them. The line was long and the cold wind had finally gotten to Abby. She had a huge melt down and we had to pack up and leave just before it was our turn. Oh well, Jake had fun looking at the horses in line :-)

Introducing Lily Grace...

I can't believe it's been a month since I blogged! That means our newest little one is almost a month old too! Lily Grace Thornell.
She is doing great and has even slept through the night twice already (not consecutively, but I'll take once in a while at this point). The difference between preemies and full term babies is amazing! She is nothing like the twins and seems almost easy at times. She's really not a super fussy baby although I think she has a mild case of reflux and a milk allergy like her brother. I'm cutting dairy out of my diet and she's getting a bit better and on Monday I'm hoping to get her started on Prevacid to see if that helps even more.
I'm breastfeeding Lily exclusively and it's been great. Since she hasn't had the eating issues the twins had (and b/c this is my second time around I think too), it's been much easier. We have even already had to feed on the go and while it's inconvenient to nurse in public, it's great not to have to prepare formula or wash bottles. She's also gaining weight like a champ and is already over 10 pounds now!
We are slowly settling into a routine and it's going to be tough for a while I think. My mom is still here and has been a HUGE help with the twins. I can just now start to pick them up, but learning to juggle them with a newborn will be really tough for the first few months I think. Right now, we can't keep Lily in the same room with us in a swing or bouncer as the twins try to help and tend to rocker her a bit much, giving her whiplash. Their just helping I know, but we have to work on being gentle first. So, we have Lily in a swing on the other side of the baby gate in the hall. She likes her swing okay I think but really prefers to be carried around (who wouldn't :-).
They are also trying to cope with the newest addition and it's been tough on them. They're really jealous I think and Jake has meltdowns over the littlest things now. Naps have been horrible since Lily's been born (although we are just getting back into things the last two days I think) and everyone has been super cranky. I'm also wondering how I'm going to get out with all three. I don't have a triple stroller and so I wear Lily and put the twins in the stroller right now. We'll see if I can keep that up. The trick is getting them in and out of the stroller while wearing Lily.
Here's a few pics of the newest Thornell...enjoy!